Colin Pither matches Grouse Grind record by climbing it 15 times in one day to raise funds for sick kids

Colin Pither eats McDonald's food to replace some of the 11,000 calories he burned after doing the Grouse Grind 15 times yesterday, tying the single-day record.Photo by
NICK PROCAYLO

At the crack of noon on Friday, ten hours after Colin Pither finished his 15th consecutive Grouse Grind and tied the record for climbs in a single day, he rose from bed and began his greasy road to recovery.

By Pither’s calculations, he burned about 11,000 calories yesterday as he hiked almost 50 kilometres up and down the mountain. The average daily caloric intake required for a male his age is between 2,500 and 3,000.

So it’s understandable he’s a bit hungry.

Pither had set out to break the record on Thursday, hoping to complete 16 Grinds. But around 2 a.m. Friday morning, 21 hours after he set out on his first climb, he decided to call it at 15, settling for joint record-holder.

His feat is remarkable on its own -– the combined elevation of 15 Grouse Grinds is more than double that of Kilimanjaro. But Pither’s story is all the more inspiring because he spent his youth in and out of hospital as a severely asthmatic child.

On Thursday, he dedicated his endeavour to the place where he spent much of his youth, by raising funds for B.C. Children’s Hospital.

After reaching his record-tying 15th summit, Pither had to walk back down to the base, as the gondola stopped running shortly after 10 p.m. The trip back down took about two hours, with Pither negotiating the 2,803 stairs down in the rain, his headlight the only small beam of light in the thick, dark woods.

His muscles and tendons swollen and strained, Pither used a stick as a crutch during his final, muddy descent.

But at least he didn’t have to finish alone.

Colin’s father Gordon Pither was at the base waiting for him, knowing he had begun his descent around midnight. But Colin’s descent in the dark and the mud was so slow, that as time went on, Gordon grew concerned that his son had fallen asleep or, worse, fallen.

The elder Pither decided to hike up and see if he could find him. Halfway up, he found Colin, using sticks as crutches and moving slowly but surely down the hill.

Colin told his dad, “I don’t want any aid, I just want encouragement.”

Father and son finished the descent together. Colin said it reminded him of elementary school, when he was an asthmatic little kid on the cross-country team. He was always the last one in the race, but as other kids lapped him, his father would join him and jog alongside him slowly for the final lap.

Pither grew, got his asthma under control, and evolved into an elite outdoorsman and athlete. In recent years, Pither has climbed Mont Blanc in France and Mt. Rainier, each in about a day. He has also cycled more than 6,000 km across Europe.

But the 15-Grind day proved most difficult of all. “The Grind, definitely, yeah I would say this was the toughest thing I’ve done.”

Pither said that on the way down during his final descent in the rain, “I was kind of cursing myself. Like, ‘Why am I such an idiot for trying to do this?’”

But on Friday afternoon, relaxing at home with his feet up, Pither was in good spirits. “It’s a great feeling,” he said.

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